Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/R43181/01
Title:	Adhesion and Friction of Polymer Monolayers
Principal Investigator:	Koutsos, Professor V
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Sch of Mechanical Engineering
Organisation:	University of Edinburgh
Scheme:	Fast Stream
Starts:	01 March 2001	Ends:	29 February 2004	Value (£):	65,315
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Characterisation
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Manufacturing Chemicals Electronics Healthcare
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Polymer chains anchored at surfaces play an important role in many technological areas such as adhesion, lubrication, tribology, colloid stabilisation, rheology, chromatography, interfacial mechanics in composites, wetting, crystal growth modification, microelectronics and biocompatibility of artificial organs in medicine. In recent years, a large amount of experimental and theoretical work has been devoted to studying these systems. Although, considerable understanding has been obtained for their static properties, their dynamic properties (which govern adhesion and friction) are far from being understood. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) provides an unprecedented spatial and force resolution in the order of angstroms and nanonewtons, respectively; therefore, it is ideally suited to study adhesion, friction and viscoelasticity at the nanometre scale. We propose to use AFM in combination with contact-angle measurements, ellipsometry and XPS to unravel the underlying molecular mechanisms of adhesion and friction of polymer monlayers. We will use two model chemical systems: PDMS and PS anchored on solid substrates. We will investiigate in a systematic way the effects of solventquality, grafting density, molecular weight, applied load, contact time and testing velocities. The results will be compared with macroscopic experiments and theoretical models. Industrial collaboration will be sought in order to develop and study (new and/or better) mono-molecular coatings to control friction and adhesion in industrial applications.
Key Findings
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Potential use in non-academic contexts
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Impacts
Description This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk Summary Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Project URL:
Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.ed.ac.uk